


Fate

by sunwoo



Category: TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Angels, Alternate Universe - Spies & Secret Agents, Best Friends Choi Soobin & Huening Kai, Character Death, Deception, Falling In Love, Heaven, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, People Change People, Suicide, Updates Every Thursday
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-14 03:33:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29536182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunwoo/pseuds/sunwoo
Summary: Secret agent Choi Yeonjun is given an assignment concerning Soobin.The assignment is to un-assassinate Soobin. To bring the angel back to life.Yeonjun's a professional at this. It should be a piece of cake just like every other time he's un-assassinated someone. But why is Soobin so... different?
Relationships: Choi Beomgyu/Kang Taehyun, Choi Soobin & Huening Kai, Choi Soobin/Choi Yeonjun
Comments: 4
Kudos: 10





	1. Soobin's New Friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Every chapter will switch between being Soobin's POV to Yeonjun's POV to Soobin's POV again, etc. (i use "POV" very loosely because this is all written in third-person but if it's Yeonjun's POV, for example, you'll see Yeonjun's inner thoughts and background, and not Soobin's.) So some important info about Yeonjun's job as a secret agent will only be revealed through Yeonjun's thoughts in a Yeonjun-centered chapter. The chapters are titled depending on whose chapter it is^^

“Happy one-month-since-you-died-versary!” Kai exclaimed with a bright smile, holding out a chocolate cupcake with what seemed to be a makeshift candle on top.

“Thanks,” Soobin said, blowing out the candle and taking a bite out of the cupcake. “Did you bake this?”

Kai nodded happily.

Angels didn't need to eat food, but Soobin and Kai liked to eat anyways, probably for the same reason angels workout even though their bodies can’t physically change and drink coffee to ‘wake up’ even though their bodies aren't affected by caffeine: a sense of normalcy as if they were still alive.

“It’s really good. I guess my cooking and baking lessons have finally paid off on you.”

“Hey, I’ve always been good! I didn't need your lousy lessons!” Kai pouted.

“Oh, don't feel bad, Ning. Maybe one day you’ll be half as good as I am,” Soobin teased.

Kai rolled his eyes playfully and grabbed Soobin’s arm to pull him towards Heaven’s entrance.

When Kai died nine months ago from shielding his sisters in a car crash and woke up sitting on a big cloud at the gates of Sector 34 of Heaven, numerous thoughts were running through his mind, but all of them disappeared when he realized there were other people around him crying.

Kai, being such a loving and selfless person, immediately went to comfort them all despite his own heart pounding in fear.

Since then, he had decided to visit the welcoming gates every morning when new angels came in, some crying, some in shock, some even in acceptance of their death.

Kai’s comforting aura usually calmed people down, making him known as this sector's 'ball of sunshine.' (Chaeryeong—one of their friends—had originally come up with ‘angel,’ but Kai argued that _everyone_ in Heaven was an angel, quite literally. Eventually, the two agreed on the term ‘ball of sunshine.’)

In fact, Kai’s daily welcome sessions were the reason he and Soobin had met.

Exactly one month ago, Soobin found himself lying on the ground of what he, at the time, assumed to be a big pile of cotton candy.

Kai had stepped next to him and looked down at him with a smile. “Hello! Are you alright?”

“Where am I?” Soobin asked, blinking slowly as his eyes adjusted to his new surroundings.

“Heaven! Sector 34, to be exact. Here, let me help you up. Do you like ice cream? We can go get ice cream to make you feel better!”

When Kai tried to touch him, Soobin immediately flinched, backed away, and kicked at the air from his position on the ground.

“No, I can't be here!” Soobin yelled. “There has to have been a mistake!”

Kai frowned. “I know it’s hard to come to terms with this, but all of us have gone through the same thing. You’ll be okay. Come on, I’ll help you find your apartment so you can have some alone time. Is that okay?”

“No! No! Stop! You don't understand! I can't be in Heaven!” Soobin cried. “I committed suicide! I shouldn't be here! I should be in—”

Kai hugged Soobin tightly, causing Soobin to abruptly stop talking. He then began to sob into Kai’s shoulder, and Kai held him comfortingly, giving Soobin the warmth he needed at that moment and marking the beginning of their friendship.

Now, Soobin followed Kai to the gates every morning, but he always let Kai do all the talking and hugging. Soobin wasn't good at the whole comforting thing anyways.

He instead stood nearby and watched the different reactions among the daily crowds.

Every day was quite similar in Heaven, which made Soobin happy because he was already accustomed to his new life here. His angel friends made him feel loved, he moved in with his best friend Kai last week, and most importantly, the reason he chose to end his life didn't bother him anymore.

Soobin had no reason to look for more change since his life as an angel was practically perfect, but today, there seemed to be someone who stood out, and that intrigued Soobin.

A man in bright pink hair left the entrance too quickly in comparison to others who usually stayed at the gates for several minutes as they collected their thoughts and such.

Soobin watched as the man looked around, as if in search of something or someone, and suddenly stopped at Soobin.

Soobin gulped as the mysterious man walked up to him with an unreadable look on his face. He had to admit though, this pink-haired man was quite handsome.

“Are you Choi Soobin?” He asked.

Soobin's eyes widened in confusion. “Yes... Who are you?” He quickly glanced at Kai to make sure his best friend was nearby in case he needed an escape.

Heaven would never let bad people in, so Soobin didn't have any reason to really fear this unknown man, but he was a bit awkward around strangers, and Kai always helped him get out of uncomfortable situations.

“Oh, thank goodness I recognized you. I’m Choi Yeonjun, a good friend of Ji Changmin.”

“Changmin hyung…?” Soobin felt tears prick his eyes. Changmin was one of Soobin’s closest friends while he was alive and part of the reason he almost considered staying alive. _Almost_.

“Oh… Don't cry… I’m sorry…” Yeonjun apologized quickly.

“No, it’s fine,” Soobin said, wiping his tears. “Please don't apologize. Anyways, you two were friends?”

“Yes, I’m one of his friends from the states… Changmin just talked so much about you, Soobin. I’m glad I ended up here, so I can finally meet you. Hopefully, we can be friends,” Yeonjun smiled.

Soobin smiled back. “Sure, any friend of Changmin is my friend as well.”

“No ‘hyung’ to the end of that?" Yeonjun asked with a confused head tilt. "You called him your hyung a second ago…”

“Oh,” Soobin laughed. “You see, in Heaven, we don't use honorifics because, well, you stop aging when you get here, so if someone younger than you shows up after you, they’re technically older than you even though they were born after… It’s confusing, really. Everyone just kind of agrees that age is a weird concept here.”

Yeonjun seemed to have thought about it for a second, then said, “makes sense.”

“Soobin, let’s go take everyone to the cafeter—” Kai stopped in his tracks as he noticed Yeonjun. “Oh, hello! Are you new, too?”

Soobin answered for him. “Yeah, he just came in. This is Yeonjun. He says he was friends with one of my friends back home. You know, before I came to Heaven.”

“Oh,” Kai said with a pause before turning back to Yeonjun brightly. “You can join us! Soobin and I always take newcomers to the big cafeteria down the road!”

And so, Kai led about a dozen new angels down the street to get something to eat to help them all become adjusted to their new lives.

There, Soobin sat down with his other angel friends: Chaeryeong, Jake, and Ryujin.

Soobin’s friend group in Heaven consisted of Kai, Chaeryeong (who died seven months before Soobin from a failed kidney transplant), Jake (who died two months before Soobin from accidentally drowning in the ocean on a school trip), and Ryujin (who died a week and a half after Soobin from a mass shooting at a church).

Soobin liked his close, little friend group just the way it was, but for some reason, he wouldn't mind if Yeonjun became a part of it.

Something about Yeonjun interested him, and it wasn't just the fact that he was also a friend of Changmin before coming here. He felt some sort of connection like they were meant to meet here, in Heaven of all places.

Besides, what were the chances that Yeonjun ended up in the same sector as Soobin and immediately remembered him and recognized him as soon as he woke up? Soobin thought it had to mean something.

“Yeonjun, these are my other friends. Guys, this is Yeonjun. He just got here today,” Soobin said happily.

“Hello,” Yeonjun greeted everyone before sitting down next to Soobin.

“Hi!” Chaeryeong waved.

“‘Sup,” said Jake.

“So how'd you end up here like the rest of us?” Ryujin asked, earning a foot stomp from Chaeryeong. “What?!”

“You can’t just ask that! What if it's a sensitive topic?” Chaeryeong whisper-shouted although the whole group could clearly hear her.

Yeonjun laughed. “It’s okay. Don't worry. I’m not upset over my death. I’ve already come to terms with it.”

Then, Kai sat down on Soobin’s other side, wiping imaginary sweat off his forehead and linking his arm with Soobin’s. “Finally got all the new angels settled in for the morning! What’d I miss?”

“Yeonjun was just about to tell us how he died,” Jake said. Ryujin nodded excitedly at that.

“Oh? So soon?” Kai asked, looking at Yeonjun. “Usually new angels take a couple of days of self-grieving before they’re able to talk about their deaths.”

Yeonjun scratched the back of his neck. “Yeah, I, um… I committed suicide. I’d been planning it for quite some time now, which is why I’m not sad over it. In fact, I’m glad to be here.”

Silence overtook the group for a few seconds.

Kai looked at Soobin at the mention of suicide, as he knew how deeply the topic affected him. Besides, he was also the only one who knew the reason behind Soobin’s suicide.

(The others knew Soobin killed himself, but only Kai knew the reason behind why he did it. ‘It’s a secret for a reason,’ Kai would say if anyone ever tried to make him tell.)

Soobin seemed to be lost in thought, so Kai just cleared his throat to say, “well, we don't judge here, Yeonjun, so if you’re happy, then we’re happy, too, right guys?”

The others nodded and assured Yeonjun his death didn't define him now, and Soobin smiled at Yeonjun.

Yeonjun noticed this and looked at Soobin in confusion.

Ryujin then suddenly started a discussion about whether people have one or two butts. Kai and Jake began fighting over their differing opinions, leading to Chaeryeong yelling at them both.

While all this happened, Soobin watched his friends argue and continued to smile to himself.

He was happy to find someone who died in a similar way he had.

Then it hit him. Maybe Yeonjun was put here to help him feel better about his death. Soobin had never told anyone about the intense guilt he had felt over the past month due to his selfish death because he knew the others wouldn't fully understand—not even his sweet best friend Kai because he had died 'heroically,' as their friends liked to say, while Soobin always told himself he took the easy way out—but… maybe Yeonjun, his new friend, would.

 _We’re meant to be friends_ , Soobin thought, taking a quick glance at Yeonjun who was laughing at Ryujin and Jake's heated discussion, _he’s here for a reason_.


	2. Yeonjun's Easy Mission

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW for this chapter: murder and suicide imagery

Choi Yeonjun. Agent 1910. Born on September 13th, 1999, in Bundang-gu, Seongnam City, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. 5’11”. 136 lbs. Blood type A. Fluent in Korean and English.

That's all there is to Yeonjun, at least according to his organization, that is.

At age 18, Yeonjun lost his parents. His father was starting a company that a much more powerful and well-known company in the same field saw as competition.

They murdered his parents. And for the first time in Yeonjun’s life, he was glad to have been a single child because he worried that if he had a sibling, they would've been taken from him that night, too.

Why hadn't Yeonjun been killed, too? He asked himself that question for days until the evil, murderous company came knocking on his door, telling him that he had two choices: Die at their hands just like his parents had or join their secret organization as their key to going between Heaven, Earth, and Hell to bring back their enemies?

Three years later, Yeonjun stood as the organization’s most prized possession, the only one who could travel between the three worlds, the only one who got the un-assassination assignments, and Yeonjun was good at his job.

So when Yeonjun was told about his new assignment, Choi Soobin, an almost-one-month-old in Heaven, he immediately got to researching everything that was necessary to help him fulfill his mission.

Choi Soobin. Born on December 5th, 2000 in Sangnok-gu, Ansan, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. 6’1″. 147 lbs. Blood type A. Fluent in Korean. Friends with Ji Changmin, Lee Heeseung, and Lee Jeno while alive. Died on January 19, 2021, by stabbing himself in the chest with a kitchen knife. Left no note. Was found dead and in a pool of his own blood the next day when his landlord came by to remind him of his overdue rent.

According to Soobin’s records, he was closest with Ji Changmin out of his three friends, so Yeonjun decided that pretending to be another friend of Changmin’s would be how he’d begin to get close to Soobin before finding out about his other weaknesses.

But Yeonjun didn't stop there. Over the years, Yeonjun had learned that it’s much harder to un-assassinate adolescents and young adults because they’re easily influenced by their friends’ opinions, so he made sure to know every detail about his current friends in Heaven as well.

Kai Kamal Huening. Born on August 14, 2002, in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States of America. 6’0”. 147 lbs. Blood type A. Fluent in English, Chinese, and Korean. Died on April 27, 2020, in a car crash involving a drunk driver on the other end. Had unbuckled his seatbelt as soon as he saw the large truck coming their way and moved to shield his sisters from the impact. Both sisters survived with only minor injuries while their taxi driver and Kai both died instantly.

Lee Chaeryeong. Born on June 5, 2001, in Yongin, South Korea. 5’5″. 101 lbs. Blood type B. Fluent in Korean. Died on June 11, 2020, due to an unsuccessful kidney transplant that would have helped treat her chronic kidney disease. Died only minutes after the doctors realized something went wrong.

Jake Sim. Born on November 15, 2002, in Brisbane, Australia. 5’9″. 127 lbs. Blood type O. Fluent in Korean and English. Died on November 21, 2020, by drowning in the Yellow Sea while on an end-of-term school trip from Australia to South Korea. Was taken out of the water barely alive and rushed to a hospital in Seoul. Was declared dead on the ambulance ride there.

Shin Ryujin. Born on April 17, 2001, in Seoul, South Korea. 5’4″. 108 lbs. Blood type B. Fluent in Korean. Died on January 29, 2021, due to being shot in the chest by an armed individual at a church. Was the first of eleven gunshot victims and the only one to die.

 _Quite sad deaths_ , thought Yeonjun as he researched, but that thought immediately disappeared once he focused on his work again.

Yeonjun worked alone. He didn't need anyone to help him complete his mission, so once he got past the security (Yeonjun laughed at this word. The people in charge of letting in newly dead people were quite horrible at their job. Yeonjun had been able to get in and out of Heaven unseen more times than he could count), he made sure to join the day’s group of new angels.

It was simple. None of them knew who he was or that he wasn't really dead anyway.

Yeonjun woke up in front of the gates and immediately got up, not finding showing emotions at this moment to be necessary. If anyone asks about his lack of emotions after his death, he has a fake story about his past ready to tell.

To the angels of Sector 34, he’d be 21-year-old Choi Yeonjun who had fought depression and suicidal thoughts for the past five years, who planned out his suicide over the past three weeks, and who finally ended his life by hanging himself in his Seoul hotel room last night.

When he found Soobin, he remembered to mention being friends with Ji Changmin. And he was glad to have thought of the emotional pre-death link to bring them closer together because it seemed to work. Soobin immediately took him in as a friend, much sooner than Yeonjun had estimated.

Yeonjun’s plan was off to a good start. The next step was to get Soobin to talk about his other weaknesses.

Then, he met Kai and didn't fail to notice the younger angel’s small pause when Soobin mentioned a friend from his past, almost as if Kai suppressed an upset comment about Soobin’s past being brought up suddenly.

 _This knowledge would come in handy_.

Then, he met Soobin’s other friends, and again, Yeonjun noticed Kai.

Kai was Soobin’s best friend and the one Soobin trusted the most, Yeonjun assumed when he saw how close the two angels seemed in the cafeteria. Kai immediately linked arms with Soobin, Soobin repeatedly ruffled Kai’s hair with endearment… they were obviously very, very close.

Even when the group left after eating breakfast, Kai clung to Soobin, and just like all the other instances, no one said anything about it, meaning it had to have been common.

Yeonjun made mental notes of all of this in case it helped him later on. Now, he needed to start getting close to Soobin without the others, especially Kai, intervening. Kai seemed to be someone for Yeonjun to avoid as much as possible. Maybe he’d be helpful later on, but for now, Kai could ruin Yeonjun’s chances of getting close to Soobin himself.

“So, where to now?” Jake asked as they all stopped to stand under a big tree on the side of the road.

“Let’s go to the arcade!” Chaeryeong suggested.

“Ooh, good idea!” Kai clapped happily.

“You guys go on without Yeonjun and me,” Soobin said suddenly. “I should help him find his new apartment… if that's okay?” He turned to Yeonjun.

Yeonjun nodded with a small smile.

Seemed it would be much easier to get Soobin alone than expected.

Yeonjun quickly glanced at Kai, who seemed to be frowning. _Interesting_.

“Alright, catch us back here later for lunch!” Ryujin shouted as she already began running in the direction of the arcade.

A few feet ahead of them, she stopped in her tracks for a moment to yell, “the last one to the arcade’s a rotten egg!”

Kai let out a high-pitched scream and started running. “I can't be last!”

Chaeryeong thought quickly and ran right after Kai, Jake following a few steps behind.

Soobin giggled at his friends. “They’re always like this. You’ll get used to it soon.”

“Am I a part of your friend group now?” Yeonjun asked.

“Of course,” Soobin smiled. “Not many people our age come to our sector, so we’re really happy you’re here and can't wait to be good friends—oh! Should I explain how things work around here on the way to your place? I understand it may be a bit scary to be here all of a sudden with no idea on how anything works.”

Yeonjun _did_ know how things worked, but he nodded anyway to play his role of an unknowledgeable, new angel.

“Okay, so basically, Heaven is separated into a bunch of different sectors, and you go into one depending on where you died. We’re in Sector 34, which means we died in Northern Seoul. Sectors exist to make sure the place doesn't get too packed.

You _are_ allowed to travel to other sectors, but it's quite hard to… It’s a whole process, really. You need to have a good reason, and you can't just say ‘to visit someone,’ because you need to know the exact Sector they died in, and it's hard to get that information if you don't already know where that person died. Or worse, you don't even know _if_ they’ve died already.

You’d think Heaven would be less strict, being a paradise and all, but I won't complain. I like it here. Besides, we’re lucky to even be here. Our selfish deaths should've taken us to… well, you know where, but we’re in Heaven instead. I guess our good deeds throughout our lives outweighed our sins, right?”

Soobin had been staring right ahead the whole time and had finally looked at Yeonjun, who was staring right back at him.

“Oh, did I talk too much? I’m sorry… I’m usually quiet, but—”

“No, it’s not that, Soobin. I was just thinking about what you were saying. I like what you said at the end. That we’re lucky to be here and not down there.”

Yeonjun mostly said this in order to get Soobin to like him more, but deep down, he did think what Soobin said was quite meaningful. It made him wonder if his own sins, too, would be forgiven by the good deeds he made in the early years of his life, and he’d end up in Heaven one day.

This thinking was cut short by Soobin smiling again and giggling.

“Thanks, Yeonjun. I can tell we’re already gonna be good friends.”

Yeonjun smiled back. “Me too.”

“Oh, we’re here! Let’s go?” Soobin asked, earning a nod from Yeonjun.

 _I already have him wrapped around my finger_ , Yeonjun thought, _this is going to be an easy mission_.


	3. Soobin's Sudden Shyness

“Well, this is it,” said Soobin as they reached a small billboard in front of a series of apartment buildings. A few other angels that Soobin recognized from Kai’s morning group were nearby, scanning the billboard for names and numbers.

“This is where angels live when they first get here,” explained Soobin to the brand new angel. “You’re assigned an apartment here, and in two weeks, they’ll let you move out to either your own place or with someone else. I originally moved out on my own to one of the buildings over there near the waterfalls, but last week, I decided to move in with Kai because he’s like my best friend, so now he and I live in a building by the gardens—oh, I’m sorry… did I talk too much again?”

Yeonjun shook his head quickly. “No, no, I like hearing you talk.”

Soobin’s cheeks turned pink at this. No one had ever said this to him. “O-oh, thank you, Yeonjun…”

 _Why are you turning red…?! Stop blushing, Soobin. It was just a compliment from a friend_.

Soobin cleared his throat and motioned towards the billboard. “Should we go find your apartment number now? Here, I’ll help—”

Yeonjun grabbed Soobin’s arm and shook his head with a smile. “I want to do it myself. I want to get the hang of things around here and start making new experiences, starting with this one.”

“Sorry, go ahead!” Soobin said shyly as he looked at Yeonjun’s hand on his arm. “All you have to do is look for your name, and it’ll tell you the door number.”

“Got it. Sounds simple enough,” Yeonjun replied as he smiled at Soobin. Then, as Yeonjun turned around and headed over to the billboard, Soobin brought his hands up to his warm cheeks in disbelief at himself for blushing over such a simple comment. Why was he acting like this all of a sudden?

“I’m in apartment 1-C, Soobin,” Yeonjun finally called out after a few moments.

“No fair,” replied Soobin with a pout. “You live on the first floor. When I first arrived, I got assigned to the third floor. It was so hard walking up and down those stairs every day… Anyway, let’s go find your new home.”

He led Yeonjun into the third building and stopped in front of a door labeled 1-C. Yeonjun stepped inside and looked around, seemingly trying to take everything in.

“It’s nice, right?” asked Soobin as he also glanced around quickly. “I’ll leave you now so you can get used to your new—”

“Actually…” interrupted Yeonjun. “Can you show me around Heaven?”

Soobin froze.

“Well, because… we’re friends now, right? And I don’t really wanna stay cooped up in here by myself. I’d much rather be with you, Soobin, if that’s okay with you…” Yeonjun said while staring up at Soobin.

Soobin, who was trying to suppress another round of blushing, nodded. “That’s okay with me. I’ll show you around.”

“Great!” exclaimed Yeonjun, holding onto Soobin’s arm as they walked out of the apartment together. As Yeonjun locked the door, Soobin quietly focused on the feeling of Yeonjun’s arm wrapped around his, his body so close to his, his pretty face suddenly looking back at him…

“So, where to, first, tour guide?” Yeonjun asked.

Soobin snapped himself out of his thoughts and cleared his throat. “Let’s just start by walking downtown.”

“Okay,” Yeonjun said, “Downtown it is.”

And so, the two of them walked down the road together, and Soobin wished he could stop feeling like everyone was staring at them. He kept his eyes trained on the ground in front of him as they passed by other angels, but the thought that everyone was looking at him and Yeonjun never went away no matter how hard he tried to clear his mind. _They’re all looking at me being so close to an angel I just met this morning. They probably recognize him from just coming in today. They’re all judging me for—no, Soobin, they’re all angels, remember? We’re all angels here. We’re all good people. They can’t be thinking mean thoughts about me because there are no bad people_ _in Heaven_ —

“Soobin,” spoke Yeonjun suddenly.

“Yeah?” Soobin asked, his eyes still on the road.

“What’s that?” Yeonjun asked while pointing to a big building with rainbows and clouds and smiley faces painted on the windows.

Soobin turned to look at what he pointed at before looking down again. “Oh, that’s the toddler center. That’s where all the really young angels stay because they can’t live on their own. They live there and are cared for by volunteer angels until a family member who wants them becomes an angel here and takes them in. You might see them running around nearby sometimes. It’s cute. Oh, and I especially love it when mothers who lost their newborns become angels and are reunited with their babies! It’s so heartwarming.”

“And that?”

“That’s one of our schools. It’s mostly for the people who never got the chance to get or finish an education while they were alive, for the kids who want to feel like they’re going to a real school, and for the people who loved teaching and don’t want to give it up, even now. Once in a while, though, some angels our age will go study there as if pursuing their dream like they always wanted to. I almost enrolled once to study psychology but my friends convinced me otherwise, so I didn’t. Kinda glad though because I probably would've dropped out after a week. It’s a pretty nice school, though.”

“And this one?”

“Here’s the arcade where you’ll see…” Soobin squinted when he noticed something strange. “Chaeryeong holding a ginormous teddy bear and Ryujin kicking a ticket machine…?”

At that, Soobin’s friends all walked out (some with smiles on their faces, and others—Ryujin—not), and the duo could finally hear their discussion.

“Chae, can I _please_ have it? Please, please, _please_ with a cherry on top?” Ryujin asked desperately.

Chaeryeong’s bear was so big that it covered the whole top half of her body when she held it in her arms, so she had to move it out of the way so Ryujin could see her stick out her tongue. “Not a chance. If you wanted it, you should’ve won it.”

“Yeah, Ryujin, don’t be so mad. It’s just a bear,” Jake said in a funny voice as he held a pretty normal-sized teddy bear in his hand, making it seem like the bear was the one doing the talking. “Not the end of the world.”  
  
“You got a bear, too, Jake! Everyone but me won a bear! Even Kai got one and his is tiny.”   
  
“Hey!” Kai exclaimed, offended, as he hugged his little teddy bear. “A bear’s a bear, and it’s still cute. Look, its little arms even wrap around your finger!”

Ryujin kicked the ground. “Stupid ticket machine eating my stupid tickets.”

Chaeryeong then sighed. “Fine, you can have mine.”

“Really?!”

“No,” laughed Chaeryeong. “Sucks to be you.”

Ryujin suddenly charged towards Chaeryeong in anger, but Soobin jumped in between them before anything could happen. (Not like anything really bad would happen anyways. The worst Ryujin would do to her is pinch her arm, but Soobin wasn’t taking any chances anyway.)

“Okay, before somebody gets murdered, why don’t we all go to the library?”

“Can’t murder someone if we’re all already dead,” muttered Ryujin.

Kai ignored her and cheered. “Yay, library!”

“Since when do you like books?” Chaeryeong asked.

“I never said I liked the books… I just like the fish they have at the library. I’ve always wanted a pet fish, you know. Now, let’s go!”

On the way there, Soobin noticed Jake gifting his bear to an upset Ryujin. Ryujin then hugged him and ran up to Chaeryeong to rub it in her face that she had a bear, too. Chaeryeong was clearly unamused, but Ryujin kept going as Kai and Jake laughed.

Soobin rolled his eyes as he giggled. His friends were really something.

Once at the library, Ryujin had calmed down. They were all staring at some fish in a fish tank in the center of the library when Yeonjun pulled on Soobin’s sleeve all of a sudden.

“Hm?” Soobin turned to him.

“Can we go look at some books?” Yeonjun asked quietly. Soobin nodded and took Yeonjun to his favorite place in the library. It was a secluded area near a bookshelf full of fantasy books, Soobin’s favorite book genre.

“Do you want to look for a specific book?”

Yeonjun shook his head. “Could you find one for me?”

Soobin began looking for a specific book he had in mind. “Do you like reading books? Is that something you did before… coming here?”

“Yeah, I used to read sometimes, but I had to stop for a while because I got a job that took up all my time…” A pause. “I want to get back into reading now that I’ll have a lot of free time.”

“I guess great minds think alike because I also wanted to read as soon as I got here. During my first week, I asked for the library. I read an entire book series of like four books, and when I finished, I realized there was one book left but they didn’t have it here. So I cried, and Kai was like ‘why are you crying? They bring in new shipments of books from Earth every week so the library stays updated. The next book will get here soon,’ and I felt so dumb.”

Yeonjun laughed. “You really cried over a book?”

“Yeah, it wasn’t my best moment, but don’t judge. It was my first week here, and I wasn’t handling it as well as you are right now,” said Soobin. He then stared at the bookshelf sadly and sighed. “These books are really the only new things from Earth that we get to see. It’s a bit sad to think about how we can’t really know what happens down on Earth anymore. There could be a zombie apocalypse going on right now and we wouldn’t know it until we suddenly get like a thousand angels in one day who all died from zombies eating their brains or something. I sort of wish there was some way to be updated on what happens, but… ah, nevermind. I should just be grateful for what I have up here. Oh, Yeonjun, I really like this one!”

Soobin excitedly grabbed a book off the shelf and opened it for Yeonjun to see.

“This one’s really, really good! It’s about a boy who turns out to be a wizard but he doesn’t know it until his eleventh birthday, and he ends up battling…” Soobin drifted off and suddenly turned to the bookshelf again. “Rambling and spoiling it, sorry.”

“What? No, I wanted to hear what you had to say, Soobin…”

Soobin turned back to Yeonjun to shake his head and motion towards the book. “Just read it yourself if you really want to know what happens. I shouldn’t spoil anything.”

He watched as Yeonjun frowned but nodded anyway. Bringing his attention back to the book, Yeonjun flipped the page and immediately hissed and pulled his finger back in what appeared to be pain.

“What? What happened?” Soobin asked, confused.

“Nothing,” replied Yeonjun quickly. “I just felt like I got a paper cut, but it was nothing. See?” He then showed Soobin his thumb which looked perfectly fine.

“Oh, yeah, angels can’t bleed. I don’t know if I mentioned that before. You can feel pain, but not bleed, so you’ll be fine. Did it hurt—”

“When I fell from Heaven?” Yeonjun finished for him with a smirk.

Soobin turned red and tore his gaze away from him. “I was asking if you’re okay after the paper cut scare… Besides, that sort of pick-up line only works on Earth because we’re all in Heaven right now…”

“Aw, don’t get all shy and red-faced, Soobinnie,” teased Yeonjun as he pinched Soobin’s cheek. “We can find better pick-up lines for each other later.”

And with that, Yeonjun put the book back on the shelf and walked away, leaving a blushing Soobin all to himself.

 _Get yourself together, Choi Soobin_ , he thought to himself as he lightly slapped his warm cheeks, _Stop acting like that_.

When he finally felt like he had composed himself, he went to find his friends and almost bumped into Kai who seemed to also be looking for someone.

“Soobin! There you are!”

Kai pulled Soobin closer by the arm to whisper in his ear. “I have to tell you something—”

“Can we _please_ go eat now?” complained Ryujin loudly as she and their other friends appeared from around the corner and walked towards them. “You guys know I have to eat after spending time at a boring library.”

“I’m getting kind of tired of holding this huge thing, too, so we should go now,” added Chaeryeong.

“My desire for lunch is _way_ more important than your bear—!”

“Kai, Soobin, we should go before Ryujin really loses the last bits of her sanity over a teddy bear,” Jake said, stifling a laugh when Ryujin seemed to get angry at his comment. “Where’s Yeonjun?”

They all looked around, and Yeonjun suddenly popped up behind Soobin.

“I’m here! Sorry, guys, I just went to get this book that Soobin suggested to me, checked out. We can go now if you want.”

“Finally,” said Ryujin. She pulled Chaeryeong and Jake outside with her, and Yeonjun stepped forward and looked back at Soobin with a small smile.

“Let’s go?”

Soobin tried to not remember the events that had occurred between them just a few moments again. Just the thought of Yeonjun teasing him like that made his ears almost turn red again. He nodded and turned quickly to Kai, saying, “tell me later, Ning, okay?”

Kai glanced quickly at Yeonjun then nodded at his best friend. “It’s kind of important, so I’ll tell you later at home.”

“Guys, are you coming or not?” Ryujin yelled from outside to which Kai laughed and yelled “Ryujin, don’t yell! It’s rude!” back before heading outside.

Soobin turned to Yeonjun and smiled. “Let’s go.”

Yeonjun grinned at that and walked out of the library with one of his arms holding the book he chose to take out and the other holding Soobin’s arm.

And as they walked out, Soobin looked over at Yeonjun, who was smiling up at him. Soobin turned away quickly and realized that in the short time they had known each other, he had begun to feel something for Yeonjun, something very different than what he felt for his friends.

 _Do I have… romantic feelings for Yeonjun?_ thought Soobin.

And he wasn’t sure yet if he was scared of it or excited about it.


	4. Yeonjun's New Deadline

When Soobin offered to help Yeonjun find his name and apartment number, Yeonjun was glad that Soobin seemed to be taking a liking to him, one that Yeonjun hadn’t really expected. Soobin _blushed_ because of something Yeonjun said. All Yeonjun wanted was to become a good friend figure to Soobin, someone almost as close to him as Kai is, but it seemed like Soobin began to see Yeonjun in a much different light.

Yeonjun had had to flirt with his victims once or twice before, so this wasn’t new territory for him. He’d have to change his plans for Soobin, though. Start teasing him here and there, first when they’re alone, next when they’re around his other friends.

He made sure to do this when Soobin took him to the billboard. After he flirted with him, touched his arm, and made up some excuse about wanting to search for his name on his own, Yeonjun turned around and rolled his eyes.

 _Making new experiences, my ass_ , thought Yeonjun as he walked over to the billboard and searched for the name Lee Sungjun.

Since Yeonjun wasn’t really an angel, he wasn’t registered to have an apartment under his name. Every time he had to pose as an angel for a mission in Heaven, his organization got rid of another angel so that Yeonjun could take their spot and have no one question why there was an extra angel.

_Lee Sungjun, Apartment 1-C._

“I’m in apartment 1-C, Soobin,” Yeonjun called out to Soobin, who didn’t suspect that something was wrong.

Later in the library, when Soobin asked him if he read books before coming to Heaven, Yeonjun was brought back to his past. Before his parents were killed and he was forced to become a secret agent. Yeonjun read a lot of books back then and always wished he had a little brother or a little sister to read bedtime stories to every night before kissing them on the forehead and smiling as they slept peacefully.

Too bad he never got to experience that.

But what he told Soobin wasn’t entirely a lie. His job _did_ take up all of his time, and he _did_ wish things were different.

Yeonjun wouldn’t let his emotions get to him while in the middle of a mission, though, so he continued on with the fake newly-dead angel disguise and teased Soobin a little while he was at it, too. Soobin’s new hobby seemed to be blushing at his every word anyway.

And when Yeonjun stupidly got a paper cut and worried Soobin, his pointer finger was bleeding. Wasn’t a lot of blood, but it was _blood_ nonetheless. And angels don’t bleed. So he got out of the situation quickly by playing it off as he had just gotten startled and his finger was fine. He showed Soobin his thumb instead of his bleeding pointer finger, and Soobin believed him, even gave Yeonjun the chance to flirt one last time before leaving to handle his bleeding-finger situation.

Yeonjun took the book Soobin gave him and headed to another secluded area of the library. He looked at his finger and tried to lick the blood off as well as he could. It was kind of gross, he’d admit, but he couldn’t wipe it on his clothes like he would anywhere else. He was wearing all white just like the angels were. A sudden smear of red on white would be suspicious.

“Hi, Yeonjun hyung! You like history books?”

Yeonjun jerked his thumb away from his mouth and moved it under the book in his other hand, turning around to see Kai Kamal Huening looking at him in curiosity. Kai seemed to have stared at his hands but then returned his focus to his face.

 _Great. The clingy best friend. Just who I needed_ , Yeonjun thought sarcastically before forcing a smile on his face. “Thought you didn’t like books and only came for the fish.”

Kai laughed at that. “You caught me. The fish are the most interesting thing in the whole building, but you’re standing in the history section so I thought you came for a history book…” He looked down at the book already in his hands. “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone? Soobin _loves_ that one!” He stopped. “Did… did he give you that?”

“Yeah, I asked him to pick a book for me. He almost spoiled it, too, but he stopped himself before he could. How sweet of him.”

“Oh,” said Kai.

Then, he stepped closer to Yeonjun. Kai was taller, so Yeonjun looked up at him. And he did so nervously. Kai stared at his face for a long moment before his eyes moved to Yeonjun’s lips. Yeonjun had almost no time to even wonder what was happening when Kai suddenly brought his own thumb to Yeonjun’s lips and wiped the side of them.

“You had something there,” he said quietly. Kai stepped back, stared at Yeonjun for just a second more before walking away quickly.

Yeonjun stared blankly at the empty space in front of him where Kai used to stand for a couple of seconds before it hit him.

He must have had _blood_ on his lips. And Kai _saw_ and wiped it off.

 _Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck_.

Yeonjun mentally cursed at himself as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and tried to find Soobin. He practically ran down every aisle in search of Soobin and stopped when he heard Kai exclaim “Soobin! There you are!”

 _He’s going to tell Soobin. He’s going to tell him and ruin everything. Where_ are _they?_

He went past the big fish tank and felt his heart stop when he saw Kai whispering into Soobin’s ear. He didn’t know what to do. What would he even do now? How would he explain the blood?

Then, Ryujin and the others appeared. Ryujin interrupted Soobin and Kai’s moment with a loud “Can we _please_ go eat now?”

Yeonjun let out a sigh of relief. At Jake asking where he was, Yeonjun finally appeared and acted normal, as if his cover of un-assassinator wasn’t about to be blown. When he did, Kai gave him a look that he didn’t recognize, but he knew he didn’t like it. Even if Kai didn’t fully understand why Yeonjun had blood on his lips, he could affect Yeonjun’s plan just by knowing that something was off about him. Sooner or later, he’d find out what it meant or get in the way of Yeonjun’s plan.

“I’ll tell you later at home,” Kai had told Soobin before Yeonjun took Soobin out of the library.

 _That’s fine. I’ll come up with an excuse for the blood if Soobin asks about it later. You are not going to mess this up for me, Huening_.

Yeonjun, with his arm around Soobin’s, looking up at the taller with a smile that so easily made Soobin blush.

Kai trailed slowly behind them, and Yeonjun made sure his touchiness towards Soobin was on full display for Kai.

They all headed to the cafeteria from earlier to eat something. Ryujin happily ate as much as she could while the others ate something small.

“She’s the newest one here,” Jake said to Yeonjun as they all watched Ryujin go back for thirds while the rest of them were still on their first plates. “Not including you, of course. She’s still not exactly used to the whole not-needing-to-eat thing. Seriously, she eats like it’s an eating contest and a million dollars are on the line. I’m surprised she hasn’t choked on something yet—Ow! Let go of my ear, Ryu!”

“I heard you talking about me! You need to learn how to whisper.”

Once they were all finished eating, they left the cafeteria.

“Well, it’s been a long day. We should all head home now,” Kai said, looking at Soobin. Yeonjun noticed this and stepped closer to Soobin.

 _You’re_ not _taking him from me right now and ruining everything_ —

“I’ll take Yeonjun home,” Soobin said suddenly, glancing at Yeonjun. When the others stared at him, he quickly added, “So he doesn’t get lost. You guys know I kept on getting lost during my first week. I ended up like three streets down on my first night.”

“That’s fair,” said Chaeryeong. “Good night then, Yeonjun.”

“Night,” said Ryujin.

“Sleep tight,” said Jake.

Yeonjun looked at Kai and found him to be looking at him blankly. “Good night,” Kai said. Yeonjun had only known him for one day but he knew something was wrong. Kai was always cheerful, smiling and laughing no matter what, but now Kai didn’t look like his usual self.

“Thanks, guys,” Yeonjun said as he finally looked away from Kai. “Come on, Soobin. It’s this way, right?” He pointed to one side of the street, and Soobin nodded.

“See you guys tomorrow,” Soobin told his friends, then turned to Kai. “See you at home.”

Kai nodded and followed the others who were already walking away.

Yeonjun grabbed Soobin’s hand and intertwined their fingers as they walked.

“Thank you,” Yeonjun said suddenly.

Soobin glanced at him. “For walking you home? It’s really nothing…”

Yeonjun giggled. “Not just that. Thank you for becoming my friend today and for showing me around and for just… being you. I like you, Soobin. I like being around you. I’m really happy we met.”

“Me too,” Soobin said quietly before the two of them reached Yeonjun’s front door.

Nighttime in Heaven wasn’t exactly like nighttime down on Earth, Yeonjun had learned over his many missions, but his current situation of Soobin walking him to his front door with the only light illuminating their faces being the small hallway ceiling light reminded him a lot of Earth.

Soobin was avoiding Yeonjun’s eyes. He seemed to be shy once again, so Yeonjun reached over to pinch Soobin’s cheek.

“You’re so cute,” he said as he reached into his pocket for his keys to unlock his door. Soobin continued to stare at the floor as if it was the most interesting thing he had ever seen, so Yeonjun chuckled and gently moved his chin up to make eye-contact with him.

Yeonjun winked at him with a “see you tomorrow, Soobin,” then went inside his apartment.

He closed and locked the door behind him, but he didn’t need to see Soobin to know that he was flustered again. It was so easy for him to make Soobin turn red.

Once he got rid of that thought, Yeonjun headed to the bathroom in search of a first aid kit to tend to his finger. It was very obviously cut, so he cleaned it up and put a Band-Aid around it. Hopefully, it would be better by tomorrow, and if not, he’d come up with a lie as to why he was wearing a Band-Aid. He _was_ great at lying after all.

As he finally put all the things back into the cabinets, he heard a beeping noise come from his living room.

He immediately recognized it to be his boss from his organization calling him on a special speaking hidden in the apartment. Yeonjun found it behind the couch in his living room, gulped, and answered the call.

“Agent 1910,” the voice said loudly.

Yeonjun cleared his throat quickly. “Hello, sir.”

“How is your mission going so far? Any complications?”

“All going according to plan so far, sir. Soobin seems to have taken a liking to me, so I should be able to get him alone with his full trust in me and complete the mission by the end of the week—”

“That’s what I called you for, Yeonjun. We have another mission for you that has to be done by next week. We cannot afford to take you out of your current mission with Choi Soobin, so we’re instead giving you a new deadline. Three days. Un-assassinate Soobin by the time midnight strikes in three days. Then, you can start right away with your next case.”

“Th-three days?!” Yeonjun’s eyes widened. “Sir, with all due respect, I’ve never completed a mission in less than five days. I still have a long way to go—”

“If you don’t complete the mission in time, you know what will happen to you, Yeonjun. Farewell.”

And with that, the call ended and Yeonjun fell to his knees.

He shut his eyes tightly, the image of his parents being killed right in front of him coming back to haunt him. If he didn’t complete his organization’s missions, he’d be killed just like them. And he knew deep down that there was absolutely no way he’d end up in Heaven if he died. He had done too much evil for his organization to be forgiven, so he wouldn’t be able to see his parents in Heaven (which is where Yeonjun liked to think they went. He hasn’t had the chance to find them because his organization won’t let him). He knew he’d go straight to Hell for everything he’d done for the organization. He deserved to go down there. And trust him when he says Hell isn’t a nice place.

Yeonjun stood up and ran to the kitchen for a glass of water. He needed to stop his traumas and fears eat at him while he had an important job to do. He had to bring Soobin back to life in three days.

He sighed and sat down in his living room. Peering out the window, he saw Soobin talking to a small child on the street. Yeonjun smiled at the sight before his eyes widened and his hand pulled the curtain down.

 _That didn’t just happen. I don’t smile unless it’s to put up an act_.

Yeonjun then decided he was just tired and needed to sleep. His lack of rest was making him act like this.

And when he went to bed and slept, he dreamt of the night his parents were killed.

The next day, Yeonjun woke up to the sound of someone knocking on his door.

He groggily got out of bed and looked through his front door’s peephole to see Soobin standing there, staring at the ground and fidgeting with his hands.

Yeonjun gasped.

 _Soobin? If Kai told him about the… blood incident… from yesterday at the library, it’s all over. If Kai told him… Soobin will know something’s up with me, and I might not be able to finish the mission. I’ll be dead meat_.

Yeonjun shook away the thought and hoped for the best, opening the door.

Soobin looked up when he saw the door open. His eyes widened when he saw Yeonjun yawning with the previous day’s clothes still on and with his hair standing in several directions. “Oh, did you just wake up? Did I wake you up? I’m so sorry—”

“No, Soobin, it’s okay. I wouldn’t want to sleep the whole day away anyways,” Yeonjun said with a smile. “Why’d you come to see me? Miss me that much?”

Soobin shook his head quickly. “No, no, I—I mean, yes… No, I don’t—I thought that… I mean, we all, you know, me and our friends, we thought it would be fun to take you out for a nice breakfast. Jake knows a place. He says it’s better than any breakfast place he’s been to on Earth.”

Yeonjun grinned as he realized Soobin still acted the same as he did yesterday. Kai hadn’t told him anything.

He stepped aside from the door. “Come in.”

Soobin walked in and looked at Yeonjun for a moment before turning to stare at the ground again. “Want to come with me—us… to eat?”

Yeonjun smiled fondly at Soobin’s shyness. “Just let me get changed first. Stay here,” he said.

Soobin nodded, so Yeonjun went into his bedroom and began searching in his closet for something to wear. It was all white of course, so it was easier than searching for an outfit would be on Earth, but Yeonjun liked looking good so he still had to choose well.

“Hey, Soobin?” Yeonjun suddenly called out as he changed his shirt.

Soobin answered from the other side of the closed door. “Hmm?”

“What did you say yesterday about going to other sectors?”

“Oh, about visiting people?” Soobin asked. “It’s a long process. I wanted to apply once to see my… Nevermind. I shouldn’t.” He sighed. “If anything, I’d rather see my friends back on Earth. Most of us do. I wish I could check in on Changmin at least… Just see him and make sure he’s okay, but I know it’s not possible, so why bother hoping…”

Yeonjun, who was in the middle of tying his shoes, stopped and smirked to himself.

“Soobin, what if I told you there _is_ a way to check in on people down on Earth?”

“Wait, _really?_ ”

Maybe Yeonjun really would be able to complete his mission within his new deadline.

Because he just found a way to get even closer to Soobin. Closer than anyone else.


End file.
